Brad Calvert's homepage

Info about various things, scroll down to see everything.

This page was last updated on 16 July 2001.

My latest interest is using my 2 year-old cocker-spaniel, Molly, to pull a scooter along local footpaths. She does a very good job too, running at full speed on a flat surface. She's a little lacking in power for hill-climbing, but even this is reasonably impressive. We don't use the scooter above 20 deg C, but around 18-20 she hops into her bath all by herself to cool down after a run. She can now (2001) pull a cart and a scooter at the same time, I've even had 30 cans of beer (=11kg) in the cart and she ran along about 800m (1/2 a mile) from the local shops. The last photo shows a recent (July 2001) trim she had.

Dogs have historically been harnessed to small wagons and carts, it's really quite interesting to see some of the old photos.

Other dog cart/scooter/wagon sites:
http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini.html - Australian-made cart for dog or small horse
www.cartingwithyourdog.com- has some great historical photos
www.dogscooter.com
http://www.bond.net/~warrickw/cfaq.html - many useful links and info

If you know any other similar sites, send an e-mail

Holiday photo slide show

Click here for contents-page: Venezuela, Malta, Tunisia and Cook Islands.

Water Rockets

Recently I've had some fun with these. Water rockets are made from one or more PET soft-drink bottles, powered by compressed air forcing out water. There's more to these rockets than you might think. Here's a picture of an easy to make rocket.

Rocket-launcher design (and other rocket links)

Draft copy of water-rocket book

T-nozzle diagram

strange release mechanism side views and top view. This is based on the cable-tie release mechanism, but uses bicycle spokes with spherical beads. The release cylinder has slots to accomodate rear-mounted screw-on fins attached to the bottle mouth thread (see easy to make rocket link above).

48 uses for PET bottles

Ever wondered what to do with all those old PET bottles? Here are some ideas - #41 shows how to build insect traps for that hungry frog:

Tap-grabba

This device was designed to help people use T-shaped water tap handles, as often found outdoors in Australia and elsewhere. I mostly sell these to elderly ladies, so any of you out there surfing the net, you have reached the right place. People with arthritis often find taps difficult to turn. My grandmother thinks the Tap-grabba is the best thing since sliced bread.

Mulga Bill's Mowing - 45K picture

is a pollution free mowing and gardening system developed between 1991 and 1994. Mulga Bill's Mowing is a system which enables a Flymo hand-powered lawn mower, rake, broom and gardening tools to be carried by bicycle. This system may appeal to people wishing to establish a low-cost environmentally-friendly business. The plans and instructions should be able to be used by anyone able to use basic hand tools. The idea is particularly suited to young people, due to the low costs involved and no requirement for a driver's licence. The equipment has been used extensively and is safe and reliable.

The End of Work

Have a look at a book review I wrote for something to do one day. It is a review of "The End of Work" by Jeremy Rifkin (1995).

Neo-Darwinism is dead?

Here's an essay I wrote at Uni. It's about controversies in evolutionary theory in the 1970s and 80s. Ideas of Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins and others are discussed at length.

Here's an Itchy and Scratchy animated gif cartoon.

Also a walking dog animation.

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